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Separating the Facts from the Sales Propaganda on Chicken Feeders and Other Poultry Raising Equipment

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Rat Proof Chicken Feeder

Rat Proof Chicken Feeder

Selling on Ebay for $79.99

Selling on their own website and Etsy for $65.00

I almost passed this feeder by because the reviews on their shopping cart were almost too good to believe. But once you start researching chicken feeders this product is obviously the market leader as it has a lot of links posted by flock owners all over the internet.

The company has a Facebook page were anyone can post a comment or review and there were dozens of customers posting positive comments about the product. No surprise as you will see the company’s Facebook ads on occasion so there is quire a following on Facebook. On occasion there will be a negative comment but usually from some smarty pants, I have yet to see anything negative from an actual customer. There were a few customers reaching out asking for help and either the company would answer or fellow customers would jump in with ideas for training or whatever was needed.

If you take the time to read the voluminous product website it has a really good story of how the feeder came onto the market. The guy had a small flock and was overrun with rats, didn’t have the kind of money that Grandpa feeders wanted for their product so he set about making his own feeder.

There is even a Backyardchickens.com thread that shows up in a Google search where the feeder was discussed. The guy put it up asking for comments and suggestions and you can read through the long thread and watch the product evolve over time from a simple plywood feeder into a galvanized sheet metal feeder that has pretty much taken over the market.

The thing about this feeder that takes some getting used to is the narrow treadle step. It looks like someone is saving a buck on materials but it makes sense once you think about it.

All the other feeders have these big wide steps for the chickens to stand on but as this is the only feeder that claims to be rat proof, heck they named it rat proof chicken feeder, it turns out that the narrow and far away step, more of a perch actually, does a good job of keeping the larger rats away. If a rat or large squirrel did get the treadle down it couldn’t reach the feed so there is a method to the madness.

At first my birds would perch with both feet and wobble around while eating but they learned to use one foot to hold the feeder down. I suppose if the treadle was allowed to bottom out it would be better but I was worried about litter preventing the treadle to go down so I mounted our feeder off the ground a bit.

I ordered 2 of these. They came sooner than expected and in perfect condition. They were easy to assemble and my chickens learned to use them very quickly. So far it’s been only a few days, and although I see a few rats in the evening, they haven’t been able to get into the feeders. This will be a huge savings. I haven’t had the feeders even a week yet — the rats will eventually relocate, I’m sure. My only problem was that the California Whites are much too small to use the counterweight with, and the door doesn’t close tightly using the spring only unless the chickens jump off. If they just step off, sometimes the door has a 1/8″ opening.

I have 2 separate groups of 3 and 4 hens. One group learned in a couple days how to use feeder tho mainly one hen uses it, others eat from sides. Other group are slow learners. After 3 days one hen will jump on perch if I open it but I have not seen her use it on her own. The rest are afraid. I haven’t fed them anything so they gotta be hungry! Will see after a week how smart they are. Feeder is well built and easy to install. It is very loud opening and closing with a bang and I feel this is part of the problem of their fears. It definitely seems rat proof which is my problem. It is under cover in my coop. If I could suggest improvements, they would be for some kind of lexan type door so chickens could see feed for motivation and I could monitor feed level without having to look inside. Also that door did not slam. I even put little tabs that go on bottom of chair legs which helped a tiny bit. Also that the roof would be sloped so hens would not roost on top. But if chickens learn to eat out of it, I will be happy. All in all, good product that I am glad I bought.

Reviewed by: kathy from south florida. on 9/18/2015

Ms.

Love this feeder. I was being over run with the neighborhood birds eating all of the chicken feed, but not anymore. Putting it together was easy after watching the video, although I wish the directions were more specific for which direction to install the rod that connects the treadle to the door. My door was sticking a bit and when I re-read the directions it said that if that happens the rod is in the wrong way. Why not just tell us the correct way to install it in the first place? Other than that it did take my girls about 3 days to figure out that the feeder wasn’t gonna kill them. They’re still a little freaked out when one of them steps off the treadle and the door slams shut. But…they did learn, and the neighborhood birds are no longer a nuisance!! I would definitely recommend this feeder and would purchase it again.

Reviewed by: DesertRat from Tucson. on 10/6/2015

A great product!!

Little mice were climbing in the back at the top, I hung 3 metal door hinges ( a girls fix) and twala no more mice. Wow my feed bill has gone down tremendously, and all the sickness the birds and mice bring are coming to an end,!!! Thanks for such a great product!!

Reviewed by: Aryana from . on 12/21/2014

Definitely worth the cost

I was thrilled when I saw my friend’s rat proof feeder. It looked like it actually worked. I ordered this one and did exactly as the instructions said to train my chickens. They had it down by that evening. Even my leghorns were able to figure it out since it is a little trickier for them because they are smaller. There is hardly any waste because they have to balance on the treadle and stretch for the food. The rats and ground squirrels are very mad because they don’t have free reign any more. I have about 30 chickens and they are doing just fine with one feeder since they just take turns to eat. I did order another one that I will introduce to my younger ones without the counter weight so when they get merged with the older gals they don’t have to learn a new feeder also. Definitely worth the cost.

Reviewed by: Amelia from Ashland, OR. on 8/19/2015

GREAT FEEDER!

This is the best feeder on the market. It has saved me a ton of money, and unlike the Wood Treadle Feeders, (which will be chewed into) this one is all metal. It took my chickens about two days to start using it on their own. This company has excellent customer service.

Reviewed by: Teresa from New Mexico. on 7/16/2015

Ordering a second rat proof treadle chicken feeder!

I ordered a second rat proof treadle chicken feeder! My chickens are getting used to the first one and it seems there isn’t quite enough room for them all to eat in peace.

Reviewed by: Cory M. from . on 12/1/2014

New, Improved Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder is even more awesome!

We bought an original Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder a couple of years ago. Because of weather, the metal piece under the door rusted out. Other than that, it was an amazing feeder. We liked it so much that we recently bought a new one. My husband put it together, and he said that it is higher quality than the first one. In addition to being ratproof, it also keeps the feed clean, unlike many other feeders. We are extremely pleased with it, and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a rodent-proof chicken feeder.

Reviewed by: Karen from Gainesville. on 9/23/2015

It is sooooo well made

Just a note to say I love my automatic chicken feeder and will be ordering another one soon. what a great value. The chickens were puzzled by it at first but now they get it. and it is sooooo well made. Thank you!

Reviewed by: Margaret H. from . on 12/10/2014

The feeder works very well

Your feeder works very well — very easy to pay for itself. This is a second unit — I am getting this for my neighbor as a gift. Your feeder works very well — very easy to pay for itself. Also, I “seeded” the feeder with meal-worms to help train my hens to begin using it.

Reviewed by: George W from Moses Lake WA. on 8/18/2014

Mr

The metal parts of this are well constructed but cheap wood and screws were used. The flapper door is sheet metal suspended on wood by two screws. This had become detached during shipping. It was a quick and easy fix, but annoying to deal with in a new product. The foot pedal wood is the same low quality. It would be a good idea to paint that piece or it won’t last long. My chickens are still figuring it out, but it has stopped the rats, so in that regard it works as advertised.

Reviewed by: Mike from MS. on 8/12/2015

Good value – could be better

The Unit was packaged adequately for protection during shipment. Assembly was fairly simple – although there was a bend in the connecting rod that I had to “move” to get the door to open all the way. Combining the spring and the counterbalance weight was too much for our chickens, as it took over two pounds on the pedal to open the door. I took the spring off and instead added a plastic bottle of pebbles secured to the weight with a zip-tie so that it would take 1-1/2 pounds on the pedal to open the door. The door was not completely flat and takes a full 1-1/2 pounds to hold it closed all around the opening. The door would hold much flatter both open and closed if it had some 90 degree flanges or a large rolled-edge around the edges. As it is, it has been welded onto a hinge rod which makes it non-removable for any door improvements. It took our chickens a couple weeks to really figure out the pedal and have the courage to step on it on their own. One of them still hasn’t really gotten it yet and just eats the spillage, which might go away if I make the lower lip a little higher. Also, the pedal is made of some nice hardwood, but I really need to make it bigger so the chickens have something a little more substantial to stand on. Perhaps if I make it large/heavy enough I’ll be able to re-incorporate spring that the feeder came with. We’re saving money on food for sure – probably due to the chickens having to work harder for it – and we don’t see the rats around anymore, so overall we’re happy with the purchase.

Reviewed by: Tim from Kirkland, WA. on 8/4/2015

A trio of feeders

This is my second order from you. My first order consisted of two medium rat proof feeders, so this is my 3rd feeder. They are quite good, easy to teach the chickens to use, and definitely cut down on feed waste. Also, they do not let water in (though I have tried to put them in locations where they will not be rained on directly). I have definitely sprayed the tops down when chickens have left droppings on them, and no water got in. As for the assembly, my husband says it’s fairly quick and easy. The feeders are well made items and I anticipate them lasting for quite some time. The shipping was very fast too. In fact, the only complaint I have is that two of my three feeders are not perfectly level, so even on a completely flat surface I have to fashion a little shim to shove in so they don’t rock back and forth when the birds sit on the treadle. They tend to not like the feeders moving when they are trying to eat. Otherwise, a great product! Well worth the money spent! Thanks

Reviewed by: Kristen Harkless from Anna, TX. on 7/4/2015

I only have to fill it once every two weeks

It’s been about three months since I started using my treadle feeder. This Has to be the single best thing I’ve ever purchased for me and my chickens! It makes life easier. Since I have an ultra small flock I only have to fill it once every two weeks. Keep up the great work!

Reviewed by: David H from Germantown TN.. on 11/6/2014

None

Happy the product was made in the Philippines. Assembly directions slightly difficult to follow but watching online video helped figure it out. Hens learned in about 3 days, DO NOT supplement food during training period. I placed hens on perch to help them learn. Wall mounted, so i provided a step up to feeder. Weight could be redesigned. Seems to be keeping rodents out of food. Food waste GREATLY reduced. Would buy it again.

Reviewed by: C. W. from CA. on 7/24/2015

Wonderful product

First of all, I really love your product! I have chicks in the city and, when I let them out of the coop to pasture, I had every bird and squirrel in the coop eating the food. That doesn’t happen anymore! Thank you!

Reviewed by: Doug from . on 12/31/2014

Chemist

This is great feeder, my chickens learned in 3-4 days. I wish you can make larger one , it can store 50 lbs of food. It will be no worry for two weeks if i am out of town.

Reviewed by: Lin from Hayward. on 4/12/2016

Mr.

Good product at a reasonable price. It took the hens a few days to catch on but they are happily fighting each other for position now. I probably mounted it too high off the floor initially but they caught on once I lowered it. So far so good!

Reviewed by: dave from Advance Mills, VA. on 1/14/2016

Mrs.

My 2 chickens and 2 ducks learned to use this within a few days. Easy to assemble. I am very happy and recommend this feeder over more expensive ones.

Reviewed by: Ashlee from Fayetteville, AR. on 9/7/2015

Works great

Order arrived very quickly. Easy to assemble. Chickens learned to use feeder in 2 to 3 hours. I highly recommend.

Reviewed by: Doug from Signal Mtn, TN. on 7/20/2015

Shelly

The construction of this feeder is great. The product is definitely worth the money. Training the chickens to use it is another story.

Reviewed by: Shelly Morton from Wellington, TX. on 5/27/2016

Nice Feeder

Putting the feeder together was a bit of a challenge for us, but the YouTube video solved that problem. After just three days, our “girls” are getting the hang of the treadle and freaking out less when the door slams.

Reviewed by: Judy from Zebulon, NC. on 5/23/2016

Ms.

Well constructed and easy to assemble, minor adjustment needed to make the door close smoothly but the website stated minor adjustment might be needed. Great product at a great price! Plan to buy another soon.

Reviewed by: Errolyn Martin from Atlanta GA. on 5/15/2016

Mr

Great product.

Reviewed by: Chris from Maple Valley. on 5/15/2016

Mr

Feeder works good. Took birds about a day to finally figure it out. I will need to add an angle piece to top to keep birds from wanting to roost on it however. Birds seem to be able to pull head back quickly when it closes since they can see the door. Between all 3 of the feeders I can use a full bag of feed when filling which eliminates having to store feed in other locations. I’ve tried to automate coop as much as possible since I do have to travel for several days at a time. This eliminates one less thing to worry about while gone.

Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer) Troy from Georgia. on 5/11/2016

Well made. Great feeder

With a day one of our gals figured out how to use it. The others were a little slower. We had rat traps set up (safely) in the coop for weeks before the new feeder and no luck. Within 2 days of the feeder we caught a nice fat rat. Looks like we’ll save a ton of feed. Yay!

Reviewed by: Sarah from Northern California. on 4/25/2016

Mrs.

It took my chickens a little over a week before they actually figured it out. I had to train them twice a day and I had to make sure they were hungry enough to approach the feeder. They were very suspicious of it. The wood step fell off within the first few days, but I just flipped it around and screwed it back in and it works fine. The instructional video on how to put the feeder together is a must! So far, so good! Hoping that the mice will be cut off from their food supply and vacate!

Reviewed by: Katie from Austin, Texas. on 4/21/2016

Dr.

I am glad I found this product. Works exactly as intended. I had zero issue with the instructions or assembly. I was not having any issues with mice or rats getting into the chicken feed, but had flocks of sparrows and other desert birds devastating the feed trays. Now that I have this installed and set up my feed costs have dropped dramatically due to loss. I have production reds and they figured out how to use the feeder and get over the fear of the door within 24 hrs. This is a good product and I am glad I found it.

Reviewed by: Nathan from Phoenix, AZ. on 4/7/2016

Chicken boss

This feeder is awesome! It works as advertised. The mice, rats, and sparrows are no longer having a free buffet of chicken feed. This feeder is paying for itself. Chickens learned to use it within 3 days.

Product was as advertised. Well built, easy to assemble and works well. No evidence of rats in coop.

Reviewed by: Ken Foley from Sebastopol, CA. on 4/4/2016

Rat proof Chicken Feeder

I love this rat proof chicken feeder. I’ve had chickens and a turkey for a year and was thoroughly pleased that they quickly learned how to feed out of this new feeder. I’ve been having mice problems due to having an open feeder in the past. It seems to have cut down on the mice. Well worth the purchase!

Reviewed by: Andrea from Reno, NV. on 4/1/2016

Great feeder

Does everything it claims! The sparrows we’re eating more of our chicken feed than our chickens, but not any more!!! It took the older chickens a little longer to figure it out, but all 40 birds eat from our two feeders now.

Reviewed by: Cheryl from Bennett. on 3/29/2016

Great Feeder

It arrived fast, easy to setup. Our girls took about 2 days to fully get used to it. Pull the other feeders and don’t worry…..they will get hungry and figure it out. Not a rat in sight for over a week, within about 3 days of using. Highly recommend.

Reviewed by: Andrew from Fairfield, CT. on 3/28/2016

Chicken Farmer

The feeder arrived, all on schedule as per the order. It was easy to set up(all the instructions were clear), we have it out in the coop now, just getting the chickens used to it. I think the quality of the system is pretty good, the mechanics are simple, and I like the way the door moves in rather than out and up.

Reviewed by: M Martin from Mesa. on 3/27/2016

Chicken owner

Just another note. Put my hen, that just hatched some eggs, into the hen house. She had never seen this feeder. Well I guess the other hens showed her the ropes to eating from the feeder. She did so good.

Reviewed by: Karen from Woodville. on 3/22/2016

Fantastic feeder

Fantastic feeder. Only problem I have with it is that it’s NOT made in America. Almost didn’t buy it for that reason! *note from management: The feeders are made in our own U.S. owned and managed shop in the Philippines. This allows us to use thicker gauge galvanized sheet metal and actually make a profit off each sale. Before we set up our shop overseas we couldn’t keep up with the demand and were not making any money because the labor and materials are so costly here in the U.S.. We are even located at the old Clark Air Force Base on Luzon. We felt it was better than being forced to source them from China. The quality is actually better than what we were producing here in Oklahoma as the labor is so cheap we can put extra people to work on the product. We still unbox each feeder for inspection here at our shop in Oklahoma prior to re boxing for shipment to the customers.

Reviewed by: Brian Schlau from Leesville. on 3/18/2016

Rats are gone!

The directions are a little confusing since I’m used to having very detailed step by step directions, but with a little patience, I got it just fine. I did have to make a little wire metal loop for the spring to hang on, because one of my chickens isn’t heavy enough to weigh the treadle arm down with the supplied spring. Mounting to the coop was a breeze, and easy access to pour food is a plus. I like the medium size as it can hold enough food to feed my birds for a very long time. The biggest mistake I made was not following the training instructions to a T. When they didn’t get it right away, I was nervous that they would starve, so I started coaxing them on the treadle. When I did that, all the other birds would rush to the sides, peck at the food like crazy, the first bird would startle, jump off the treadle and scare the beejezus out of the other birds. They never learned this way. I e-mailed Al who gently reminded me to follow the instructions as written. He further suggested that I remove the feeder and start over after a day or two. So I did. When I reinstalled the feeder, I did exactly what his directions said, and lo and behold, they got it on the first try!!!! READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!! And….after that, the rats couldn’t access the “free-for-all” home-made feeders I had in there for years. With that, they succumbed to the traps finally. 6 giant rats! No wonder I was refilling the feeders every 2 weeks! Now, I won’t have that problem any more. Thanks for all the help Al.

Reviewed by: Travis Boyette from Scottsdale. on 3/15/2016

Great feeder. Really amazing service.

The feeder arrived very quickly, I like it. My chickens took a bit of time to figure it out, and then the light bulb went on in their little chicken brains. Now they get it. The only issue I had was they figured out how to spray food out of the feeder and onto the ground. Like a cup or two, mischievous devils. This did not help the problem at hand. Al responded immediately to my question with lots of great advice. In the end I popped in a small bit of chicken wire to stop them from dragging the food out onto the ground. Al’s suggestion. Works like a champ. Now my coop is very tidy, the chickens are quite self sufficient when I go away for a few days. And no stray food laying around to attract rats! Fantastic. I should have bought this a year ago!

Reviewed by: Paul LeMay from Petaluma California. on 3/9/2016

Hens LOVE the feeder!

We purchased the medium sized feeder. We have 3 hens now and are expanding to 6. The size is perfect. The 3 can all eat without fighting. It was easy to put together and the hens figured it out right away without any training. Definitely worth the cost (which is much less than other feeders I saw online)!

Reviewed by: Andrea Sharma from Atlanta. on 2/24/2016

There are so many types of feeders out there to buy. As a beginner chicken enthusiast knowing what and why to buy a feeder is something you want to know. I did not know we had a rat problem until I saw one under the open feeder I was using stuffing his mouth full of chicken feed. Now the rats can’t get to the feed and the chickens can! Really it took my girls less than 3 hours to figure it out. We are glad to have purchased this rat proof feeder.

Reviewed by: Christine from Port Charlotte,FL. on 2/23/2016

Rats are gone!

I ordered 2 feeders. They’re easy to assemble and look like they’ll be easy to clean, although none of the birds are hanging out on top of them. I attached the wood mounting block to the back of the feeder and screwed two heavy-duty hooks into the top of the block. The hooks hang on the inside of the chain link fence that supports the open-air chicken coop. This causes the feeder to tilt forward a bit, so I’m planning to add a bumper near the bottom to correct the tilt. I recommend training the chickens when you can spend a few hours with them over two days. They were scared of the sound of the door closing and would run away. I stood in the coop and would catch a hen, place her on the treadle and let her eat. Then I’d remove her, let the door close, and place her back on the treadle. I did this repeatedly with all the brave girls and the not-so-brave girls would watch and then eat from the sides. When I saw one girl jump on the treadle, I left the coop. I repeated this the next day to make sure multiple girls were jumping on the treadle. Make sure there is no other food available because they won’t learn if they’re not motivated by hunger. I’m using finely-ground feed. I haven’t had any issues with bridging, probably because the hens rock the feeder when they jump on the treadle. I’m feeding 25 birds with 2 feeders and all of them appear to be getting enough to eat. I’ve seen 4 eating at the same time, but usually I see 3. My coop recently became overrun by rats that dug through heavy clay under the apron of my coop. I think one or more got caught inside the coop when the automatic door closed so they spent the night digging out. The tunnels were causing structural damage because they tunneled under weight-bearing blocks. Judging by the extensive network of tunnels radiating 40-50 feet from the coop, there were many rats. I installed the rat-proof feeders and poison bait stations at the same time because rats will chew on the chickens’ feet if they don’t have anything else to eat. The feeders and bait stations have been in place for just over two weeks and we’ve noticed this past week that the tunnel entrances in the coop aren’t active any more and are being filled in by the chickens scratching the dirt. We’re even getting 3-4 more eggs a day. I’m assuming the rats were stressing the chickens, which reduces egg output. I’m using 20% less feed and getting more eggs, so I’m very happy with the new feeders!

Reviewed by: Barb from Orange, VA. on 2/21/2016

Keeper of the Flock

This is a great feeder, I’m so happy to no longer be feeding the darn rats!! I thought it would be a little more heavy duty but as long as the rats stay out I’m happy. The only problem was the wood screws at both the foot pedal and trap door pulled out, but my Hero promptly fixed it with larger screws. We introduced the feeder early Friday morning and by noon they were eating on their own. Super simple training process. Once one figured it out they all followed along. Manufacturer’s note* We produce feeders in the Philippines so they are shipped by the container load which means there is a long lag time between production and actual use by the customer. In the initial batch, produced between March of 2013 and February of 2015 we used local hardwoods for the wooden block that connects the feeder door and the door axle. That and poor use of screwdriver clutches caused a handful of feeders to ship with stripped wood screws. Around seven or eight feeders out of two thousand feeders produced in that time frame have had issues. Starting in March of 2015 we began importing American hardwood for that wooden door block and re educated the worker responsible for the errors. During pre shipping inspection here in the U.S. the worker is supposed to test the door and the treadle for stripped screws while the last of the local hardwood block feeders are used up. Obviously that worker dropped the ball in this case and this will be addressed on Monday morning. As the customer said, it is a matter or inserting four larger screws but one failure is too many in our view so we are addressing the root problem.

Reviewed by: Kristina from California. on 2/20/2016

Great for big gnarly chickens

We bought 3 medium feeders about a year ago for our Shamo game chickens. These guys can get over 30″ tall and weigh over 12 lbs. All they have to do to open the feeder, with counterweight and spring installed, is put one big foot on the bar. Of course, the feeders have to be anchored or they would knock them over. I started by showing the tamest one where the food was, and she soon learned what to do. The others learned from her. They got used to the noise and motion really quickly. I am sure these feeders have already paid for themselves. We mostly had trouble with starlings and sparrows. Not any more! I lost the spring off one of the feeders and while it was gone the starlings learned to gang up on the bar and open it. They would take turns getting on the side of the treadle and reaching into the feeder. Smart! With the spring in place they definitely can’t get to the feed.

Reviewed by: Betsy Meeker from Oklahoma. on 2/20/2016

n/a

Excellent feeder. It took my chickens about 3 days to learn how to use it. I went out twice a day and held it open with my foot for about five minutes. When a chicken put it’s foot on it I took mine off. One quickly learned how to use it and the rest figured it out later.

Reviewed by: Tim from Nevada. on 2/13/2016

great

I love this feeder and the chickens picked it up quickly after a day. Just wondering if you make one for ducks?

Reviewed by: Michael from mi. on 6/20/2015

A godsend

I love this feeder. It was easy to put together (the video helped) and it’s working great. I had to think about it because I thought it was pricey, but I took the plunge because of our rat problem. I would put feed in the hanging feeder, step back and watch the rats come out and do acrobatics, swinging back and forth and gorging themselves. So I got this. The girls did NOT like it at first. I kept them in the coop (they are usually free range) and it wasn’t until the third day they “got” it. I would go in twice a day, push the treadle down with my boot, let them eat away for a few seconds, then close the door again. On the third day as I approached them (still penned up) — no screaming at me! Just the soft coos, as usual. So I stopped to watch, and sure enough, they were using the feeder. I’ve already noticed that my food use is way down. Great product!

I really like the length of the treadle from the feed and how there is a lot of pressure keeping the hatch closed. I have two rat proof feeders and this one is by far the best. The only thing I would suggest is putting on a grate of some sort so there is less chance of the feed getting flicked out. Thanks for the quality product!

Reviewed by: Linda from Seattlr. on 5/30/2015

Well worth the hassle to get it overseas!

I got my feeder to Malta in my checked luggage and installed it with no problems. It took a about a week for my 6 hens to feel comfy with it as they seemed to skitter away with the clanging of the door when it opened and hit the back, or when they jumped off and it banged into the front. I unhooked the spring to make it less strong in closing, and then taped some packing peanuts in appropriate places to deaden the sound. That doesn’t look great, but IKEA has some felt chair leg dealies that are cheap and would do the trick nicely. Other than that, it seems to be working great, very little of the pellets get billed out, and I haven’t seen any signs of rats…hooray! The neighborhood birds are going elsewhere for their food and there’s been a corresponding decline in wild bird poop on all the foliage around the pen, so that’s a welcome and unexpected benefit. The feed is lasting more than twice as long, now that I’m not feeding the wild birds and rats. One little thing, the pellets were trickling down too slowly for my sensibilities, there’d be just a handful in the bottom of the feeding area, but I pushed down on the ramp and with very little force over the course of a couple of pushes the gap got to what I consider the perfect height to keep enough food in the feeding area, so that was an easy thing to fix. I thought if I over did it, I’d just push the ramp up from underneath to lessen the gap, but there was no need afterall. Let’s see, what else…the spring is rusty already, but I live at the sea. I imagine if I ever need to use a spring there, I’ll end up making myself a new one from galvanized wire, but it’s just hanging there at the moment so no big deal. OK, well those are the only things I can think of to report on. I’m a very happy customer, and thank you for making a great product!

Reviewed by: Jenefer Ham from Malta. on 5/21/2015

.

Great feeder! Took 1 week to get everybody comfortable. Only concern is keeping it outside. It is protected from the rain but not totally so hopefully it hold up well in the rain and through the winter.

Reviewed by: Kelly from Pittsburgh, PA. on 5/18/2015

Effective, but too narrow

It is true, it has kept the squirrels out. I added mealy worms to scratch and it helped the hens adjust. Hard for my bantams to keep open. Disappointed that there is only room for 1 or 2 hens at a time.

I absolutely LOVE the 3 feeders I purchased. I am saving so much $$ on feed since I don’t feed all the wild birds any more. My chickens learned to use them in just a few days. I’ve been telling everybody I know that has chickens how great these are. I’ll be purchasing a couple more before too long. I guarantee you will love them too.

Reviewed by: Robbin from Marfa,Tx. on 5/6/2015

RATS!

The order was shipped and delivered very quickly. It was packaged well and there was very little assembly required. Assembly was pretty straight forward, though I wish the instructions were a little clearer, though I could have looked online if I really needed to 🙂 I haven’t put the concrete weight on and in fact I have a paver attached to the lever to allow my very young chickens to open the door (they are too light and too small to use the feeder as stock). Very satisfied with this purchase, it’s no work of art but it is very functional. This is a great way to try out a treadle feeder without breaking the bank!

The feeder is great! The rats are gone or nearly gone and it works just as advertised but my chickens are the problem! After 2 days of nonuse, I put a car mat over the treadle which slightly opens the feeder. The chickens will reach around and in but do not like standing on the treadle. Suggestions please!

FIVE STARS! These work just as described! Wonderful product. Arrived quickly. Easy setup. We followed the directions to remove all other feed and “trained” them as explained. We have 20 chickens so bought 2 feeders. Chickens caught on completely in a day and a half. Some chickens got it before others, and it was interesting to watch them learn. I think we’ll save a LOT in feed costs and hopefully those (ahem) nasty visitors to the coop will move along to find food elsewhere…

Reviewed by: Mary Sternitzky from Brooklyn, WI. on 5/1/2015

Pretty much the best for the price

Got the rat proof treadle chicken feeder and have been using it a few weeks now and wanted to give you some feed-back. First off, it works great. I looked all over the web for an affordable treadle feeder and yours is pretty much the best for the price. I also bought a wooden treadle feeder from my local farm-supply shop, just to check it out, because it was cheap and a different design, and basically, it sucks. It is the style where the lid lifts up instead of back like yours does, and it hits the chickens in the face when they step on the lever, they get scared, and step off, and don””t come back. I had that one in the coop for over a week and the chooks never learned to use it. I had to prop it open for them to get fed. Yours, they learned to use on their own in just a few days. Great design!

Reviewed by: Todd H from Oakland, CA. on 11/17/2014

The best money I’ve ever spent!

Just wanted to let you know that after two weeks of use I’m convinced that your treadle feeder is the best money I’ve ever spent! It only took a few days of training (leaving the door open) for my chickens to figure it out. Obviously the sparrows don’t have any more snacks and it’s a riot watching squirrels try unsuccessfully to get a snack.

Reviewed by: David H from Germantown TN. on 8/28/2014

I purchased one of these feeders a few years ago

I purchased one of your original feeders a couple years ago. It is time I got one of your new steel feeders.

Reviewed by: Kristi H. from New Town Road, AR. on 8/5/2014

You have an amazing product that has significantly decreased (if not eliminated) the rats around our coop!

I’ve been meaning to post a review for you for quite some time. I ordered a medium rat proof treadle chicken feeder last October and it has been a god send. You have an amazing product that has significantly decreased (if not eliminated) the rats around our coop! I have been experiencing one small issue though which has perhaps been fixed with your new design. All that to say – I’m excited to see the new design! I see that the new pedestal is composed primarily of one solid piece of metal, which I assume can only help to improve the integrity of its function.

It was delivered quickly, it”s well-made, and some of the chickens have already jumped on the lever to open the grain door. So far so good for adult chickens. There”s just one thing–I can”t get them to stop looking at their

Reviewed by: Chicken woman from . on 5/20/2014

The multitude of sparrows are truly stymied as how to get some of the feed.

We finally got home with the chicken feeder and after many worries about the girls weighing enough to open the door, we installed it yesterday using only the spring to operate the treadle.

Reviewed by: Suzi J. from Bermuda. on 4/20/2014

I love it!

Hi! Just wanted to tell you that my chickens figured out the feeder in no time!

Reviewed by: Vicky H from Ohio. on 2/7/2014

This is a wonderful product

I purchased the small feeder for my 6 chickens. They learned to use it within 2 days and my feed bill was reduced by 90 %. Chickens are happy, I am happy, this is a wonderful product. I am purchasing another feeder for a friend of mine.

Reviewed by: Susan K from Phoenix Az.. on 1/28/2014

Very happy with these feeders.

Regarding feedback, here’s my experiences. I have 20 hens and 1 rooster and two medium feeders work well. I fill them about once per week and there is no fighting for space to eat.

Reviewed by: G.H. from Woodside CA. on 1/19/2014

It has saved me a ton of money in feed

Just want you to know, I bought another one back in the winter. It has saved me a ton of money in feed, and my chickens are very comfortable with it, keeps the hen house much cleaner.Great design and thanks again.

Reviewed by: Sharon from . on 1/8/2014

A huge number of positive reviews on this feeder

The feeder is made out of galvanized sheet metal and steel bar stock. The only wood is on the treadle, sort of a narrow perch more than a step. This feeder is unique in that it has an actual counterweight made from cement, attached to the treadle on the right side. The door has a marvelously sturdy steel axle that isn’t going to bend and because the axle is bent into a crank on the right side there is quite a bit of leverage for pulling the door open.

This feeder also unique as it has the only spring loaded door that I have found on a chicken treadle feeder. Without the spring the cement counterweight closes the door just fine but once the spring is installed it adds quite a bit of pressure holding the door tightly closed.

You have to do some tinkering and assembling with this feeder. First you install the cement counter weight, a one bolt job. There are a couple of bolts that act as pivot points to insert and tighten down, then the treadle itself is added to the bolts and lock nuts added. The lock nuts were also unique, several other brands were known for having nuts fall off. Then you have to insert the wire that opens the door and add the spring.

Tinkering is needed on this feeder, the metal treadle bar is thin and lightweight, probably has to be, so it needs bending around a bit so it is square with the front of the feeder and the cement weight will rub if you don’t bend it out a bit. All easily done by hand in a few seconds.

Installing the feeder is really easy. They give you a rough two by four block to fasten to a wall or post, then you just slide the feeder over the block and run a couple of screws in from the side of the feeder into the block.

Training was really fast, maybe thirty minutes in all spread out over a day. Be sure and read the instructions and adjust the spring if needed. Mine was quite stiff once I had it assembled, too stiff, so after looking back over the instructions I found the trouble shooting section and was reminded to carefully lengthen the spring if the action was too stiff. The company posts all the documentation online at their shopping cart, assembly instructions, training, troubleshooting, everything you might need. They have videos too, tons of them on assembly, training, even repair and modifications on the feeders.

The flock took to the feeder by the end of the first day, a relief as the instructions pushed the idea of letting the birds go without food till they learned. I was wondering how many days the hens would have to starve but that wasn’t necessary at all.

The feeder is well designed, only two pivot points on the feeder for the treadle assembly and the only other moving part is the door axle. The inward swinging door is much safer than the guillotine style feeders, there is no wood or plastic for the rats to chew through, had a much sturdier axle than the competing brands, and the counter weight and spring loaded door features really made it stand out from the others.

Downsides, there are a few. The door is a bit noisy for starters, caused by the spring because if you take it off it is much quieter. They do have a soft close version of the feeder if the noise bothers you.

The lack of the big treadle step had our bantams acting left out but they learned to eat from the front when they could so doesn’t seem to be a problem.

It is not a very pretty feeder, a bit rudimentary if you are used to polished products. The box showed up with a small hole in it from the door axle poking through and they use Styrofoam inner packing which is a bit unfriendly to this old earth in my opinion.

The product is made overseas in the Philippines, I’d much rather have an American made product but if you read the story of how the feeder came about and realize it is the least expensive feeder and undoubtedly the best performing feeder there is no doubt it would be difficult to make this feeder in the U.S. and still keep the price as reasonable as it is.

Shipping is a bit high compared to a few other brands offered on Amazon. Amazon does have a deal on shipping from the carriers though. This company is aware of the shipping eating up some of the savings from buying their product and they explain the costs of selling on Amazon and how some of the shipping is buried in the price. Once you compare the delivered price to the competing brands the Rat Proof Chicken feeder still comes out cheaper in the end.

We gave this feeder the highest ranking despite the shortcomings on looks and environmental issues. What it lacked on those issues it made up in functionality of the product.

More reviews:

works great!!

We just recently built a brand new coop so I bought 2 of your medium feeders. Took no time at all for my chickens to learn how to use them. Makes doing chores easier for me as well. Highly recommend these feeders!!

Reviewed by: Anna West from Nebraska. on 7/13/2015

Unique design!

Keep up the skilled work. I love my Chicken feeder and I have had great results from your unique design!

Reviewed by: Elizabeth M. from South Tampa, Florida. on 11/24/2014

Farmer

Great design simple installation . Would recomend a way to lock up at nite to keep raccoons out of it. Birds figured it out in a couple of days.

Reviewed by: Robert from KCMO. on 1/21/2016

Great product

I am very pleased with this chicken feeder. I am so pleased with it I will be purchasing perhaps 2 more! Very simple to assemble and best of all it’s made right here in the good old USA!

Reviewed by: Michelle from Pennsylvania. on 1/17/2016

Rancho-del-Caseo co-owner

Great product! Solved my rat problem and reduced my feed cost. Now to clean up the mess in my well house from the dang rats!

Reviewed by: Ryan Case from Stanwood, Wa. on 1/5/2017

Crazy Chicken Lady

I had difficulty assembling the feeder. Customer service was so kind to walk me through it, to completion. We are so very happy with our feeder. The flock learned to use it in about a weeks’ time. There are 6 hens and one roo. Again, we are beyond pleased with this feeder. Thank you for your great ingenuity, product, and customer service.

Reviewed by: Jeriann from Mesa, AZ. on 11/30/2016

Hobbyist

After finally getting fed up with feeding more than just my small flock, I finally got wise and place my order for the feeder. I had read many reviews and knew that I had to follow Al’s instructions for training. I did just that and although it took my very skittish a couple of days to fully get comfortable with the feeder, they have got the used to it and aren’t having any trouble with it. It has been in use for exactly one week and I can already see that the signs of rodents are decreased. I plan to buy another feeder when I increase my flock size. Stop delaying and buy this feeder.

Reviewed by: Josh H. from Upstate NY. on 10/29/2016

Bonus: squirrel trap!

I ordered this feeder mostly because of the rats at night, but there were also several squirrels that would come eat the chicken food during the day. Since there were still bits and pieces of food in the chicken’s enclosure, the girls were very slow to adapt to this feeder. I took off the counterweight and loosened the spring a bit to make it easier for them, and that’s when I discovered the squirrel-catching capabilities. It seems like they were able to push the door open to get to the food, so they crawled in for a feast. Of course, once in, they couldn’t get back out, since the door swings in! I caught two, relocated them to the other side of a local creek, and now my backyard is pretty much squirrel free AND the chickens are happy to eat out of the feeder. Like others have said, you gotta let them be hungry before they’ll be motivated to try this new contraption. (Manufacture note: Both the spring and the counterweight are needed to keep the critters out. We recommend adjusting the spring according to the installation instructions to about two pounds, then adding removable weight to the counterweight if the birds need help learning to use the feeder. If you clean the old food out and change the litter so the birds are hungry right off the bat the training goes faster.)

Reviewed by: Abigail from FL. on 9/30/2016

Mr

We bought one of these to try it, mostly because the feeder we had allowed the girls to fling food everywhere. we had 8 and were going through almost 40lbs of food a week! We got one of these just after adding 9 to the flock and we went from that 40lbs a week to 40 lbs every 2 1/2 weeks with 9 additional chickens. we were so impressed we bought another one since we have so many chickens now. I would recommend this even if you don’t have rats. It only took about 2 days for them to fidure out that is where the food is.

Reviewed by: Sean from California. on 9/28/2016

none

I was at wit’s end – the property behind mine had been bulldozed and dozens of trees had been removed for development and guess where all the rats ended up? Previously I had a few here and there but now they were rampant and starting to steal/eat eggs! I bought a pellet gun and started shooting them but they just kept coming. This feeder was expensive but necessary and so far so good! I followed the training instructions to a T which is important. My only problem has been one of my hens is very shy and skittish and is having a little trouble adjusting. The rest of the hens got it and were happy eaters by day 3. The skittish hen is also very small and light – not heavy enough to activate the door by standing on the treadle – so to help her out I screwed an extra board to the top of the treadle which is now longer and wider than the one it comes with. It also added a bit of weight to the treadle so that door opened more easily. She is now capable but still shy – doesn’t like the way the door slams shut. I imagine she will get it eventually. One the plus side I have no more rats in my coop and my feed consumption has declined a LOT!

Reviewed by: Susan from Portland, OR. on 9/24/2016

TIPS

I just bought this redesigned feeder to replace one I bought one in 2012. This are great feeders and the new design is stronger. I recommend screwing the wood block (included) into the bottom rear, as this is the only unreinforced area. My chickens like jumping on top of the feeder, this is the section that eventually bent and weaken, but to be fair, the older feeder had wood sections that wore out. The new feeder is all METAL and will surely increase durability. This feeder and a watering system with bucket, toilet float, PVC pipe, hose and chicken nipples makes taking care of chickens a breeze.

Reviewed by: Mark from CA. on 9/17/2016

Laura

I introduced the feeder to my chicks about a week ago and I am very pleased with my purchase. I did add a thin piece of wood in which this helped a lot for them to reach inside for their feed. I would like to say I have noticed that my red sexlinks was very easy to use the feeder and my black Sex link well I didn’t think they would ever gonna get it.

Reviewed by: Laura Poston from Florence S.C.. on 9/7/2016

Great product

We’ve been working on getting rid of rats around our chicken coop and having their setup still be as much on autopilot as possible. This feeder is great. Rats can’t get in and chickens only took a couple days to figure it out.

Reviewed by: PK from Portland. on 8/28/2016

Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder

Bought this feeder through EBay. It works great at keeping rats and other critters out of my chicken feed. I did have a problem with the spring mechanism that helped keep the chicken flap shut. It kind of rusted out because its out in the hot humid weather we have down here, but I got in touch with Al at thecarpentershop and he mails me 3 replacement springs in no time. It only cost me $3 for buying them and it included shipping and handling. I recommend this ratproof chicken feed to anybody that has chickens and rat problems. It works great and saves me so much on wasted feed. Another thing, the way this feeder is made the chickens have to step on this leaver bar so it will open up and when the chicken steps on it, it opens and they have to reach over to get their feed and when they do they don’t waste any of the feed by scratching it out because they r too busy trying to stand on the lever bar. This is a great product.

Reviewed by: Charles from New Orleans Area. on 8/19/2016

Money well spent. Training the birds was pretty easy, the alpha bird wasn’t very trainable, so naturally she kept pecking the bird I was working with, but we worked through it and within 5-7 sessions they got the hang of it, so I removed the other feeder. Since then, the signs of rat presence have completely vanished, the hens’ food consumption is half what it was because they aren’t splashing their feed, and the broody hen that barely ever laid eggs is now laying daily. We’ve been dealing with rats since they showed up en masse about six months ago, since then we changed to composting in a hard barrel, controlled water sources, sealed house holes, put food bags in metal garbage cans, used live and snaptraps, changed dog feeding strategies, and tried to put the feeders out of reach, with varying success, the whole time the rats would harass the hens every night. Switching to this feeder is the only thing that actually made the rats go away, and it did so non-violently. I had to stretch the spring just a bit because one of my hens was too light (it was the alpha, haha, typical) to get the door more than a half inch open. Because I wanted to be able to easily move it for filling, I just used a bungee cord to secure it to a chicken coop post, it doesn’t tip at all when the birds are on the treadle. This is best thing to happen to my chickens in a year, thanks guys!

Reviewed by: Josh from California. on 8/8/2016

Mrs

I love that we no longer have a rat problem! Thank you!

Reviewed by: Kendra from Lynnwood. on 8/7/2016

Works like a charm!

My chickens learned to use the feeder with in 2 days! I’m saving huge amounts of feed now that the rats can’t get to it! I took off the cement block weight because some of my birds are two light to use it. Now all my birds seem to have no problem. I plan to buy a second feeder when I can afford it.

Reviewed by: Lori Hohne from Mount Vernon Wa. on 8/3/2016

House Husband

I have had this Chicken feeder for Two weeks now. It showed up very well packaged, the directions left Me scratching my head a bit, but got it figured out. Who doesn’t enjoy a light challenge every once in awhile. I have tried other so called vermin proof feeders and they don’t even come close. It didn’t take my Girls but about 3 days to get it figured out. I have not had any issues with finding rat and mice droppings in my feeder now. The Ground squirrels have seemed to move onto other areas as I don’t see anywhere near the activity that I was. I am very pleased with the design and build quality. It may be a little soon to tell, but I was going through 75 lbs a week in feed. I haven’t been through 60 lbs yet. Some may think this is an expensive feeder, but with the reduction of feed waste and my feeding other critters it will pay for itself in no time.

Reviewed by: Darrekk from Central Calif. on 7/28/2016

Miss

I now have 10 of these feeders. I use 4 in each coop with about 50 hens and 2 with my 9 turkeys. It took the turkeys a few days to get the idea, but now the feed stays clean and isn’t spread all over the ground. The guineas and silkies also eat from them. I did have the wooden step split on one of the treadles, but it was easy to replace with a scrap of lumber.

Reviewed by: Christine Watkins from Thrall, TX. on 7/24/2016

0

Nice quality, five week old chicks figured it out in a day.

Reviewed by: Chad from Dennis, MA.. on 6/27/2016

Ms

Everything is as expected. Packaging was fine. Assembly was easy and all parts function well. Very practical and well built. Good quality. The only thing is one of my chickens isn’t heavy enough to open the feeder when attempting to eat alone. Also I need to manually scoop the food down from the chicken feeding door as gravity doesn’t bring the feed down easily. Otherwise no issues or complaints.

Reviewed by: Claudia from Chicken coop . on 6/17/2016

Chicken Lady

Works great! Chickens figured it out pretty quick! Would recommend to a friend.

Reviewed by: Bonnie from Alpine, CA. on 6/14/2016

King of the World

This is a pretty great product! I’ve been having problems with squirrels getting in the chicken feed and it looks like this is the trick. It appears two things make this work. Chickens are heavier than squirrels and have a longer reach from their center of gravity. Only part that was not clear is how to attach the spring to the door activating bar… I just used a pair of tie wraps to hold it in place. I also created a lock for the loading lid so squirrels can’t pop open the top lid.

Reviewed by: Bruce McAlister from Spicewood Texas. on 6/5/2016

Mrs

Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder was installed on Saturday, today is Tuesday- I’m following instructions to the “T”, my chickens are just very skittish. Finally this morning, with my foot on the treadle again, I got all of them to come and eat (I have 4). I slowly slipped my foot off and stepped out of the coop and they kept eating. Once the bravest chicken steps off and the door slams they all run- but today I saw more hope than the other before. This is a great product, and I know it’s going to be worth it in the end, I just can’t wait until I see independence from them!

Reviewed by: Vicky from WY. on 5/31/2016

Repeat buyer

I am buying a second one because I am so pleased. My feed cost dropped about 30% and I don’t want to start feeding the rats in the second pen when my chicks get old enough to be outside. I did find that putting scratch (or any dry treat) in the feeder and showing the bolder hens sped up the learning curve for them accessing the feed without having to remove their other feeder and have them get hungry first. I kept refreshing the treats and then removed their old feeder after a few days. I think that made the transition smoother and less stressful on the hens. I highly recommend this feeder if you are having any kind of varmint problem. Two thumbs up! Thanks! *Manufacturers note * We do NOT recommend leaving the old feeder in place during training as it significantly delays the learning curve. Most birds will be afraid of the new shiny item in their coop and need to be hungry for motivation. If done properly they won’t be hungry more than a few hours.

Reviewed by: Dianne from Bellevue, Washington. on 2/4/2016

Bought two of them two years ago

I have been using Al’s Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder for two years and own two of them. The only part that has worn out is the spring due to metal fatigue, which is to be expected. It is an affordable, well-designed solution to a problem that all chicken owners face. Our turkeys use this feeder successfully, too. You might be surprised to learn how much feed was going to non-feathered animals! Order with confidence.

Reviewed by: Keith from Wisconsin. on 2/4/2016

Mr.

So after a few weeks things seem to be going very well with the new rat proof feeder. It took a little longer for chickens to figure it out (turns out I had to show them a few times) than I wanted, however mainly due to losing the instructions. So far it has worked flawlessly, so much so that the rats are coming out in the day time in search of food. The rats haven’t figured it out yet and hopefully won’t. As long as this product shows durability and shows that it will withstand the rest of time, I give this product a 9.8 out of 10.

Reviewed by: Brent McClughen from North Salem, IN. on 2/1/2016

Ms.

I received the feeder in a timely manner and set up was rather easy. I can say better pictures would be nice on the instructions but I still managed to assemble the feeder with little problems. I introduced the feeder to my hens and it took them a couple of days to figure it out. I go out there each day make sure they are using it by checking their feed level. Overall I am very pleased with it and look forward to my feed bill going down over time.

Reviewed by: Melissa Pine from Wichita, Kansas. on 2/1/2016

Love it!

Solid construction, easy assembly, super easy for the chickens to use as long as it’s securely mounted to a wall. They got the drift right away. I’m so happy not to be wasting expensive organic food, and even happier to be done with vermin. Great customer support. Original order was lost by Fedex but Al shipped me a second one right away, in time for me to go on vacation and not worry about it. Thanks Al! 🙂

Reviewed by: Gabriela from Gainesville, FL. on 1/22/2016

Mrs.

Quality is good. I like that the door swings into the feeder, safer for chickens. However, the perch board is to narrow and too far away for my chickens to eat properly out of feeder. They kept following off the perch or getting between perch and feeder. Therefore, I attached another small board next to perch board and now my chickens can use it safely and happily for the perch is wider and a little closer to the feeder so the chickens don’t have to stretch and fall over to use the feeder. The wild birds have left now that they can’t get into the chicken feed. Thank you for a great product. Linda Management note* A bird falling forward is indicative of a spring set too stiff as well. Two pairs of pliers can be used to carefully stretch the spring just a bit to soften the action. Not too much though or a couple of big squirrels will be able to push the door in. The treadle step is small and distant on purpose, to prevent large rats and squirrels from defeating the feeder. Making the bird stretch a bit also prevents feed raking most of the time. Modifications such as these are needed for the smaller breed birds but they certainly remove some of the rat proof capabilities if the extended treadle step is too wide.

Reviewed by: Linda from Spokane WA. on 1/11/2016

Mrs

Shipping was fast, feeder arrived undamaged. The video was helpful in putting it together. It didn’t take long for my chickens to figure it out. I had mice coming in the coop, but haven’t seen any more since installing this feeder. I mounted it off the ground so the mice couldn’t get at the feed.

Reviewed by: Andrea Manfredo from Carson City. on 1/11/2016

The Mongrol Hoard

Great Product. As a working ratting pack dealing with rat issues on organic farms so we like to advise people in feed management. We have a long waiting list so people have ordered this rat proof feeder and solved the long term problems before we made it for a farm visit.

Reviewed by: Jreed and his Mongrol Hoard from Northern California. on 1/11/2016

Great Design

I had a huge rat problem and came across this feeder in my search for a solution. It definitely lived up to its promise. I will only buy this feeder from now on. The chickens learned how to use it within 2 days following the provided instructions. Even the bantams have learned to poke their head in when the bigger chickens are feeding. In regards to the rats they were gone within 4-5 days. With nothing to eat they left my yard in a hurry. Also my coop has stayed really clean and I haven’t gone through nearly as much feed as I used to. Highly recommend!!!

Reviewed by: David from Ohio. on 1/10/2016

Can’t wait to buy another one!

We’ve had the feeder set up less than a week and our flock has already figured it out. English sparrows are a terrible plague in our area, once they learned how to fly in the coop hatch. This feeder cuts them off completely, and now they have moved on to greener pastures. Keeping rats at bay is a bonus too, and let us cut back on traps and poison. As we ramp up hatching for this year’s egg and pullet sales, we will definitely add more of these feeders.

Reviewed by: Seven Trees Farm from Everson, WA. on 1/8/2016

Great product

Love this item! Great price, keeps vermin out and feed clean with no waste!! Needs to be mounted so when low it doesn’t tip over, and needs to be in covered location, but our previous feeder was all of those anyway so loving the fact that the critters can’t get in it!! Will probably purchase another one soon!

Reviewed by: Jodi Hill from Claremore Oklahoma. on 1/7/2016

?

Works great! No more sparrows and rats eating all of the chicken feed.

Only took my chickens 2 days to master the feeder. There is some seed that spills out in front of feeder so some wild birds do come in for that but overall I am very happy with it.

Reviewed by: Vicki from Long beach ca. on 12/13/2015

good feeder

A friend recommended this feeder, I had been using ones I made from the internet with PVC, which were o.k., but allowed a lot of spillage, and waste. This was easy to put together, fun to help the chickens learn to use it, and does not waste the feed. What else can I say?

Reviewed by: Lonnie from Maryland. on 12/9/2015

Fantastic Feeder

This is the best feeder I have owned. Before I bought this we had starlings invade our chicken coop and ate an entire bag worth of chicken feed in one week. Since installation nothing eats the feed but the chickens. The chickens figured it out very rapidly… Excellent product. Well built.

Reviewed by: Kris from Atascadero, CA. on 11/24/2015

Mr.

Great Buy. I purchased 2 medium feeders for my 9 hens, they are using them without any issue. My advise for potential customers is to follow the instructions for training the chickens to use the feeders , I did have to prop open the feeders for the first day and used meal worms as bait, by the second day most of my hens were using the feeders on their own without my help.

Reviewed by: Brian Willis from Georgia. on 11/23/2015

Farmer

We ordered 2 of these and have been using them for a week now. My chickens learned quickly how to use them and everyone remains fat and happy in the coops. We did have one small problem with one of the feeders, the door kept sticking. My husband had to bend a cornet down on the inside to allow the chickens to use it properly. … but it was an easy fix! I definitely wouldn’t hesitate to buy another in the future. We had a horrible rodent problem last year because of the chicken feed, I don’t see that being an issue anymore!

Reviewed by: Heather from Stanwood,WA. on 11/22/2015

Mrs.

It took me two years and to find this great feeder. My previous feeder was more expensive, of similar design, and ineffective. Thankfully that company has stopped production so that others will not fall down the rabbit hole. Have had the Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder in operation for two weeks now and am very happy with how it works. The feed is not disappearing as it did before. There is also less waste from the chickens scratching out feed because of the spring system incorporated in the door. The video on assembly was most helpful and should be watched. Also, as I had questions answers were quickly forthcoming through e-mails. I do suggest that a small s-hook be used to adjust the tension of the small spring. You can purchase this product with confidence.

Reviewed by: Reni from Memphis. on 11/21/2015

Chicken feeder

It is awesome it took me about 3 days for my chickens to get it. No more wild birds eating all the feed couldn’t be happier thank you

Reviewed by: David hawrey from Nm. on 11/12/2015

No more Crows hanging around

I felt little bad making my chickens go hungry in the training process but they learned and now the murder of crows are not hanging out with the chickens for their free hand out this will save on feed cost. The training process I added a lever extention and placed the food on it so the would get use to the noise of the door now it is no longer needed. thank you for the great product

Product was shipped/arrived quickly. Although it was very well packed, to prevent any damage, there were some loose nuts, bolts rolling around inside. Apparently, the bag they were supposed to be in tore, but everything was there. Assembly was pretty quick and easy, but a few more illustrations (drawing, pic, etc) would’ve made it even faster/easier. The two sheet metal screws on the top/front of the unit would not stay in and I had to replace them with larger screws. I sent some feedback directly to the company and was pleasantly surprised to receive an almost immediate comprehensive reply, which addressed my complaint about the screws not staying in, as well as some general observations. The reply was straightforward and sincere. The issue with the screws was acknowledged as a legitimate problem, which they were trying to resolve. As far as may other observations, each point was addressed in a very articulate manner. It took a while to get my chickens to eat from it, but that is probably because I didn’t ‘introduce’ it to them as suggested; I had to screw it into the floor of the coop and working on it at night wasn’t a viable option. In any case, they are feeding from it….and the sparrows aren’t, which should cut my food expenses by at least 50%. That savings will more than pay for the feeder within a year. I’d not only recommend this to anyone loosing food to wild birds, I’d suggest anyone with chickens, turkeys, etc should consider using ti just because it provides a drier, more sanitary form of providing food to the birds. In fact, this may even be a great alternative to my current rabbit feeders………….maybe the great guys at The Carpenter Shop will ship me a couple of small (loaner) feeders to test out that theory for a month or so. Who knows, they may open there product to a whole different line of consumers. (HINT! HINT!) Anyway, it is a great product and obviously backed by great people!

Reviewed by: Gary from Glenarm, IL. on 6/26/2015

I’ve been looking for something like this for a year now. I ordered 2 and set them up right away. My girls were confused at first, but figured it out in about 2 days. I can already see how these are going to save on my feed costs. Thanks for a terrific product!

Reviewed by: Marla Bixler from Marietta PA. on 4/28/2015

Happy with my feeder

This is an excellent product. No food wasted on birds and rodents anymore. And no rodent feces in the food either. Works very well and seems to be protected from rain, although we have not had enough to actually test it yet, being in a drought. It also arrived in just a few days. My chickens had it working the first day.

Reviewed by: Wendy from Pleasanton, California. on 4/27/2015

owner

This works good to keep the rats out, but it did take our chicken some time to learn how to use it. We put a camera on it and we have seen rats looking at it.

Reviewed by: Richard Brownfield from Green Valley CA. on 4/26/2015

ms

I really like this chicken feeder. I have bought a few others and was displeased because the birds were able to swish out the food onto the ground. So far i have not had this happen and if it does the owner of this company said he would send me something that would make it harder for the birds to do that. They learned pretty easy how to get the food out, I loaded it with dried worms and left it open an inch so they could see it and they started stepping on it to get to the worms. I did end up ordering another one so now I have 2, so yes I am pleased with this product and i would recommend it to all you bird lovers. Only thing my birds are free range so I wish it were rainproof but I just put a cover on it, no big deal. I will write back in a year and write about how well it is hollding up.

Reviewed by: loretta from arizona. on 4/25/2015

Chicken Lover

Got my medium feeder on Friday and by Sunday, I had 3 of 9 hens figure it out. I haven’t had problems with rats or mice but my goodness, the sparrows and ring neck doves would clear 10 pounds of feed in as little as 2 days, not to mention the mess they left. The feeder is awesome! My Hens are only about 20 weeks old, but they are trying to use it. It takes patience and a lot of heart because you must gets your birds hungry before they will approach it. It’s noisy and it moves and that will scare them. Once they get used to the noise and the shiny appearance, and figure out they must step on it to eat, they are hungry no more! Fair warning, you can only get 2-3 birds at a time on the medium feeder. Which is why I am ordering a second feeder! 🙂 Easy to assemble and so much better than the wooden treadles. Thank you Carpenter Shop for such a great product!

Reviewed by: Tracy from Texas. on 4/19/2015

Semi-successful

Our experience with the rat-proof feeder was only somewhat successful but we are trying to use it a little differently than it was intended since we have both chickens and ducks. It took three days but the chickens did eventually get it. The ducks, on the other hand, refused to step on the treadle. So, we added an expanded platform for them to step on. So far, even with the expanded treadle, only one duck is using it and the others stand around until she opens the feeder, and then stand off to the side and eat while it is open. So it’s kinda sorta working for everybody. The good news: it is definitely keeping the rat and the sparrows out!

Reviewed by: Mickey from Washington. on 4/16/2015

Medium Ratproof Chicken Feeder

The chicken feeder arrived in plenty of time, earlier than expected actually. My chicks are only 3 weeks old and not big enough to use this yet so I can’t evaluate how well it works at this time. It was quick and easy to assemble with the youtube video. Love the idea that the chickens won’t get their heads bashed in when another chicken jumps off the perch.

Reviewed by: Peggy from Colorado Springs, CO. on 4/15/2015

small farmer

We have 50 free ranging layer hens. This winter we were really bombarded with wild birds in our hen house plus the ‘more than occasional’ mouse/rat. If I had to guess we were going through an additional 25-50 lbs a week in chicken freed from the sparrows coming in and eating during the snow storms. We purchased 2 Ratproof feeders, the hens were very frightened by the treadle action so I propped them open just like the website said NOT to do. Once I removed the props the birds were still afraid, so I went back and did what was recommended. I locked up all the hens for 3 days and did not let them out. They figured out the feeders and are no longer afraid of them. So we should see a big savings in feed from here on out. Do as directed and the hens should figure it out in a few days.

Reviewed by: Darlene Goehringer from Pop’s Old Place. on 4/12/2015

Ms.

I purchased this feeder in a desperate attempt to control the rats getting into the coop to feed. Assembly was relatively quick after the arrival of the missing bag of nuts and washers a few days later. Following Al the Carpenter’s instructions, I withheld all ‘extra’ food from my hens and only had the pellets in the feeder available to them. I also baited the feeder with a couple handfuls of meal worms. I had to hold the treadle down several times over the next 3-4 days to get the hens to try to feed. The noise from the door opening and closing scared the dickens out of the hens. It took about a week before they would eat easily from it. My lightest hens have trouble tripping the treadle but they are getting the hang of it. The hardest part is getting flighty hens used to the noise it makes. I highly recommend the feeder on its workmanship, ease of assembly, rat-proofedness and Al the Carpenter’s helpful tips.

Reviewed by: Jeannie Morales from Central Texas. on 3/23/2015

I looked at many feeders on line but this had the best price, materials (galvanized steel and not wood), and innovation (door swings away from chicken’s head). We taught the birds to feed in about 4 days; it’s very important to follow the directions that Al the Carpenter sends. The directions for putting the feeder together were OK and only took about 15 min to figure out how the spring action connects to the box. We live in urban setting (that does allow chickens) but our rat problem was grave. Had to stand and watch the chickens eat at least 3 times a day and then close the food away from the prowling rats. Now life is easier and it took only a few days to get the box up and running smoothly. I did put a small handful of mealy worms inside the box with the feed at first, to motivate the chickens. After lots of trapping (live and dead) the rats are GONE. Will use this feeder box now as only indoor feeder. They will range feed as soon as the snow melts, but this box is our ‘godsent’ mainstay.

Reviewed by: Grace Gorham from Buffalo NY. on 3/12/2015

Amazing product!!

Great instructions, easy to put together, etc.. If you read the instructions on how to train the birds to use the feeder you will be amazed at how quickly they figure it out. It took one day for me once I did things properly. Initially, I left my other feeder in the coop. You should not do that. The birds will not use the feeder. I removed all food and did not give treats/scratch and showed them how to use it a couple of times by placing my foot on it and allowing them to stand on it a feed simultaneously. Did that a couple of times and they got it. Next time I went to the coop to show them again they were already on it and feeding by themselves. Amazing! Rats are not around anymore. A big relief and lower feed bills too. A lot less stress. Highly recommend.

Reviewed by: Rob from Manchester, WA. on 3/2/2015

Received the feeder and it was packed just as shown in your video. No trouble putting it together following written instructions and watching the video. I think the size of the two nuts was smaller than 3/16, but crescent wrench worked. I may have to leave off the spring as it may be too strong for my two chickens to get the door to open. Because of cold rainy weather I have not actually placed it with the chickens to use so I am not sure about the spring. The quality and construction was excellent and your emails and phone calls helping with the online order process was much appreciated. I am satisfied and recommend others give one a try.

Reviewed by: Paula Rector from Poplarville, MS. on 2/26/2015

Great feeder!

I bought this for my 4 backyard chickens. We have seen some unpleasant little “friends” in the yard and thought we needed to persuade the little guys to find their dinner somewhere else. So, the feeder is fairly simple to put together. My husband had it done in a couple of minutes. I just put it out a couple of days ago and the girls are still trying to understand how it works. I have one, Baby, that I think is starting to understand. Baby will come over when I hold the food in my hand and stand on the lever to get to the food. I haven’t seen her go to it by herself yet. The others. . . the are still waiting to see what happens to Baby. But, my girls are pretty jumpy and seem to be scared of everything. I have maybe worked with them one hour total over the past couple of days. I think I’m going to crack down and get them trained this weekend. All of that has to do with my personality and my skittish chickens. Overall, I think this is really going to work for the girls. It holds a lot of food and the chickens don’t need to weigh very much to get the door to open. That was my main concern. It is a little loud when they jump off, which makes the girls leery. Baby doesn’t seem to mind the noise now though. I’m not sure that a person could just stick it in their coops and walk away. An owner really needs to show them how it works and get them used to the feeder. I hope this information helps.

We were feeding a small tribe of roof rats, so I invested in a treadle feeder. We purchased – this one

The chickens (and the rabbit who lives with them) figured it out right away, and we buy much less feed. We also have much less rat droppings in the coop. The only downside to this feeder is that when the door swings shut it bangs. I’ve tried to put damping material in numerous spots on the door and elsewhere on the feeder, but haven’t succeeded in eliminating the noise. It’s not extremely loud, but loud enough to hear in the house if the windows are open – lets me know when the chickens are awake (on those days that they’re not squawking to let me know).

*(we do have the soft close door retrofit kit available as well as feeders packed with the soft close option)